


Mages, Miko, and Mechanical Men - Oh my!

by Genuka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bunny Farm Escapee, Evil Albus Dumbledore, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magic, Past Abuse, Potter Luck, Random Updates, Sane Tom Riddle, Sane Voldemort (Harry Potter), Tags May Change, Warnings May Change, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-08-20 07:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16551983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genuka/pseuds/Genuka
Summary: Kagome never thought she would face a battle in her native time period, or rather she never thought she would face one that had absolutely nothing to do with her and her friends from five hundred years in the past. What the hell did they do to this kid with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead and why do these idiots think she and the strange American man are related to their beat up torture victim?Here's hoping that it really is nothing to do with the stupid jewel that is her duty. If they turn out to actually be family though momma has some 'splaining to do!





	1. Ritual Chaos

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarkDragonessFly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDragonessFly/gifts), [Trickster32](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trickster32/gifts), [ThePhoenixandTheDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePhoenixandTheDragon/gifts), [Tsukiyoko_Natsume27](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsukiyoko_Natsume27/gifts), [KIT10_not_K9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KIT10_not_K9/gifts), [Stillnight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stillnight/gifts), [PotionsChaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotionsChaos/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Daddy Dearest](https://archiveofourown.org/works/450352) by [BunnyWK](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyWK/pseuds/BunnyWK). 



> Inspired by the story Daddy Dearest... *so embarrassed for forgetting to credit that until now*  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Bunny Idea:
> 
> Someone decided they needed to kidnap Harry Potter during the summer after his fifth year and use him in a ritual to summon all of his immediate living relatives to one location as captives. The Ritual Snags Tony Stark as his Father/Uncle (Lily's actual blood related brother), Kagome Higurashi (the Shikon Guardian Miko) as his half?sister/cousin
> 
> * * *

Harry stumbled and fell hard against the cold stone, trying to blink away the sluggish blood and keep it from dripping into his eyes. This was not exactly the first time he had been kidnapped but it was certainly the first time that Vernon had not only helped but legally signed over custody to someone else. Apparently, Aunt Petunia had let slip that Lily had been adopted. This had caused Vernon to ask questions and the entire family to demand a few answers about the magic involved from Harry. As Lily was only legally adopted the muggle way combined with the lack of affection between the Dursleys and Harry the blood wards were in fact useless. The realization actually sent them crashing down and knocked Harry unconscious from the backlash. As a result Harry only knew that these people had legal custody of him because they had gloated while beating him bloody in preparation for the ritual. Who knew that there were rituals that actually required you to beat someone bloody, shove a special potion down their throat, and then toss them into a circle of silver inlaid into polished dark grey granite in the middle of a massive stone room?

Harry tried to ignore the pain as the chanting began making the magic stored in the silver throb against his senses. The crescendo forced a scream of pain from him as the magic latched on to his blood and _pulled_. The last thing Harry saw before passing out for the second time in two days was a man with a glow light glued to his chest and an Asian female teenager roughly the same age as him appearing out of nowhere. They did not appear to be happy.

The summoned newcomers took one look at their new surroundings and at each other before deciding that this was bad. A glance downward told Kagome that they were standing inside a summoning circle and if she moved fast enough she could probably summon protectors for them, _if_ she was fast enough.

" _Finally_ , Potter's actual living family. They will be a great gift to the Dark Lord and to gain the allegiance of the eastern demon clans, the _Yokai_ ," a male voice spat. They were surrounded by a group of people dressed in dark blue robes with deep hoods up, concealing their identities. Kagome thought she could also feel magic working to keep their faces concealed and doubted whether they would see anything useful if the hoods of their captors were to fall.

"Stall them," Kagome ordered the obviously American man in slightly broken English as she turned her attention and Miko senses to the magic that had summoned them.

"Right... do you guys know what's going on and how much its going to cost me cash wise to go home? Maybe send the kids with me? I can get them to where they belong after that," Tony asked casually as if this was an everyday occurrence. He completely ignored the thought that the three of them within the obvious ritual circle were related for the moment. He could deal with it later and hopefully get something useful out of the one-eyed Director Fury in the process. "Because, you know, this was cool and all but I have a hot date with a pizza on the go in like an hour or so and I would really like a way to warn the gorgeous redhead that I won't make it today."

Kagome ignored the obvious, to her, banter distraction tactics and stepped from her part of the circle over to the unconscious teen. She allowed her hands to take on a soft pink glow as she checked her newest patient for damage only to swallow hard at what her Miko powers were telling her. This was _not_ going to be a quick fix.

Using the other teen's already established link to the ritual space they were in Kagome flared her Miko powers brightly, blinding to their captors and startling to the man who had arrived with her. An act of will not unlike infusing her arrows with power changed the summoning criteria just enough to be useful to the three unwilling participants. Pink Miko power flowed down her arms into her hands and _through_ Harry with the focus on summoning appropriate protectors for the three in the ritual circle. Something _nasty_ within the scar on the young man's forehead latched on to the power flow and slightly twisted the protector requirements. Kagome ignored it, sensing that this would do something that was needed and change her concept of summoning nearby help to true protectors being called.

Across the country several heads jerked upright in response to the call, most of which didn't think they would get there in time but were willing to try any way.

Down in London, less than an hour's drive from the captives, an old Inu Daiyokai jerked around to stare in the direction of where the power was sending up a beacon so bright there was no hiding it. Unbidden a _howl_ broke from his lips as he lost control of his human form and shifted into his true Yokai form in the middle of the busy street as he bolted for the beacon of power. On another street a full grown Kitsune followed suit, recognizing both the summoning power and the Inu Daiyokai. Centuries of hiding both magic and Yokai kind were destroyed in that moment as the Shikon Miko called for help. Shippou would _not_ leave his adoptive time traveling mother at risk!

In Scotland, near Aberdeen, two heads, one with onyx eyes and one with ruby eyes, jerked around to stare at the direction of London. Their magic pulled at the pair as they instinctively apparated from the middle of a Death Eater meeting towards the call. They were followed hastily by the rest of those at the meeting via using the Dark Mark as a guide and homing beacon.

In Edinburgh, a long time deadly duo turned towards the summons, knowing they would never get there in time on their own. Natasha, being more familiar with the basics of magic than Clint, sent a mental message back along the magical link calling them asking for a pick up. A crack split the air as the last of the ritual magic transported the pair to the party.

Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton landed in front of Tony just as one of the enemy wizards backhanded Kagome away from Harry. A second set of cracks announced the arrival of Severus Snape and the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"No time, protect the kids," Tony snapped out to the only two people he recognized as actual allies. Clint and Natasha barely paused to assess the situation before acting. The deadly pair moved to take out active threats while Tony first punched out the bastard that hit Kagome then stood protectively over the two downed teens as chaos reigned.

Less than ten seconds of active spell fire between the magic users, Death Eaters and Summoners included, with Clint and Natasha taking out the occasional member of the kidnappers group was interrupted by a deafening howl. A howl that was quickly followed by several equally loud fox yips as the door upstairs was broken down under the assault of two powerful yokai. Grimly Kagome flared her Reiki as high as it would go to tell the yokai where she was. An answering pair of howls told her that the message was received and allowed her to stop flaring her powers as she finally passed out from the over powered backhand. Kagome would later be congratulated for staying awake long enough after the blow to mark her assailant so that Sesshoumaru could kill the feral hanyo who had also been bitten by a werewolf. Apparently, the blow should have killed her outright and it led to Shippou fussing over her until she threatened him with a prayer bead necklace like InuYasha's.

Caught at the edge of Kagome's flaring power Voldemort cried out in pain as the power sought to heal him. Elsewhere, a ring, a necklace, a diadem, and a cup shattered while a snake collapsed in pain as a chunk of bloody meat ripped from her side only to disintegrate. A black mist flowed from all of these to stream towards the battling group and merge into Voldemort, forcing him back to his 16 year old physical self of Tom Riddle in front of everyone. A string of light sprang into being between Harry's scar and Voldemort's, now Tom, heart. Only Tom recognized the significance and as a result his immediate unleashing of his power to pin everyone to the floor was a shock. Only the newly arrived Shippou and Sesshoumaru could remain standing under the pressure of his power, while Tony managed to stay on his knees as he continued to protect the two unconscious teens.

"Before this goes further, since we have a break in the festivities, might I inquire what the bloody hell is going on?!" Tom snarled, his grey-blue eyes flashing briefly red and leaving no doubt among his followers as to his identity.

"I only know that momma called for help," Shippou said with a shrug, gesturing at the downed Miko.

"I'm pretty sure that she's human and that you're not," Tony pointed out bluntly.

"Momma adopted me when she got sent 500 years into the past to fix something. I'm a full blooded kitsune but she's still momma," Shippou shrugged, giving the man a toothy grin as he flared his complete set of nine tails out behind him. His kitsune form had bright red fur that edged towards a burnished gold as it flashed in the light of the torches.

"As the kit said, the Miko is pack," Sesshoumaru said shortly. He had forced himself back into his humanoid form to better navigate the location without putting Kagome at risk when they got to the building. His black high end business suit did nothing to hide the white hair, demonic markings, and nail-like claws dripping corrosive acid.

"Huh, okay," Tony agreed affably. He had heard weirder things and wasn't going to judge. Of course that didn't mean he was going to be stupid about it. "If I have anything to say about it you can have her back once we've got this sorted out and she confirms your story."

Unnoticed until now Severus' own brush with Kagome's healing powers had shaved a good 12 years off his age, putting him physically closer to 18 than his actual age of mid-thirties. Severus' quiet swearing brought the other's attention to him as he hovered over a still bleeding Harry and shoved a blood replenishing potion down his throat, massaging the muscles to get his patient to swallow. A quick check of Kagome proved that she was largely unharmed despite the vicious blow she had received. The Potions Master continued to tend to both of them with competence, silently reassuring those watching him work.

"Hey, uh, what are you feeding him?" Tony demanded suspiciously.

"A blood replenishing potion by the look of it," Tom answered for the busy Potions Master.

"Can you let us up?" Tony requested peevishly.

"Only if you want to start the fight again. I either keep you all pinned or let you all move," Tom explained, chuckling evilly. "A few people here can move somewhat despite my magic pressing everyone down, as you can see, but not many. Like you I want answers to why I was summoned here."

"Sooo, why'd you go from snake face to teenager?" Tony poked curiously.

"I can guess but I'd rather not have to try and kill everyone here simply because they are told something they shouldn't know," Tom said dryly. Several of his lower ranked Death Eaters shifted uneasily, fully aware that their lord would follow through on such a threat.

"One of those I can tell you but then I'd have to kill you deals huh?" Tony said consideringly. "Okay. I don't like it but okay."

"Who are you and what have you done with Tony?" Clint demanded seriously.

"Hey, I know how to be discrete and let stuff go. Don't get your panties in a twist Legolas," Tony said defensively. "Besides the two scary people only said they were here for the girl. No one said anything about the kid or anyone's intentions towards anyone else. I think we should be keeping everyone from fighting and doing other stupid things until this is sorted out even if people happen to be enemies when not in this situation."

"What? Like not asking things about momma that she doesn't want to tell?" Shippou asked innocently, ruining the effect by snickering.

"I just want it clear that any issue that does not relate to this specific situation can not be used to continue fighting. Any other grudges and stuff have to wait until the next time whoever is beating their chest meets up. That way no one gets accidentally drawn into private feuds and business nor do we need to trust anyone with secrets that don't apply to fixing or otherwise solving this," Tony defended his position seriously. "Besides both kids are clearly underage for legal adulthood and if this turns out to be some sort of human trafficking thing I want to be sure I'm only killing the bastards involved, not someone who showed up to help. Any other issues need to be dealt with separate in case of bad or incomplete info."

"Acceptable. We will have to arrange for a press conference in any case with our respective transformations occurring in such public locations," Sesshoumaru conceded grumpily.

"Agreed. New information was revealed during the fight that puts my own conflict with Potter, who Severus is currently tending to, in question. I want to know if I've been tricked or cursed into hunting him when I should have been protecting him or if the information I now have, which puts him under my protection, was completely unknown to all sides involved. If Dumbledore knew and purposefully arranged to trick or force me into trying to kill Potter.... well using children as soldiers is illegal world wide if I remember correctly. If not then trying to force him into assassinating me without even the most basic of training makes me wonder what else he's done to the teen," Tom said coldly, his eyes showing his barely contained anger.

"Yeah, uh, I can confirm that using child soldiers is in fact illegal world wide. Also, can I say that if your situation is even remotely as fucked up as what you said sounded like this kid is coming home with me? He will also be staying with me until he's either a legal adult with actual escape and evasion training or someone _sensible_ adopts him all legal like," Tony flatly told them.

"So team mascot?" Clint snarked. He wasn't really concerned about the kid living in the tower with the Avengers if this was the normal shit he had to deal with. It might even be a decent test run to see if he could eventually introduce his teammates to his own family.

"Better than what my trainers did to me," Natasha snorted in agreement.

"Which is why most of your trainers need to be hunted down and killed if they aren't already dead. I mean I appreciate your skill sets and all but from the little you've let slip, which is really _really_ small, they really need a little private time with the big guy when he's all upset like or an introduction to the demolition functions on my suit," Tony pointed out.

"No arguments from me," Natasha growled under her breath. It had taken her years to realize what exactly had been ripped from her aside from the surgical removal of her ovaries during her training. She knew that her ledger book was dripping with blood and knew equally well that only Clint as her frequent operations partner and touchstone had kept her from going over the edge on multiple occasions.

"Kit, when the mage releases his hold you will bind any who move while I deal with the trash that hurt the Miko," Sesshoumaru ordered calmly.

"Wha?" Shippou started to ask then paused and took a deep breath, sorting through the scents in the room. His eyes narrowed anger as he scented not only Kagome's pain but her scent and Reiki marking the one who hit her. The hanyo scent tasted burnt as it mixed with Kagome's sweetness telling of hostile intentions towards his momma.

"Hey, now, we need everyone alive at least at first to keep this from turning into a cluster fuck. We can't get as much out of a corpse as we can out of a live prisoner," Tony warned.

"The hanyo broke yokai law and tradition in attacking the Shikon Miko, my packmate. I will grant that it needs to survive until it tells us of any who participated but are not here. Yet, it will not leave here alive for harming the Miko," Sesshoumaru rumbled, his voice on the edge of a dangerous growl.

"The Shikon Miko is a myth!" the werewolf hanyo spat contemptuously. "The whore is nothing but a filthy human, barely worth the effort to rut with."

The hanyo was dead before anyone could blink.

"Unless that falls under some sort of Yo-ki law..." Tony said, only to trail off at the kitsune's solemn nod.

"Momma is the bridge between human, yokai, and kami. She needs to finish finding all the Shikon shards if we don't want very bad things happening and put the jewel back together. Something must have happened to change time or make her forget all of this since she never told us about any of this when we helped her find the shards and stop Naraku 500 years ago," Shippou explained. "I can only guess at what quest momma will have to deal with now but I remember when I was still a kit that we had to fight the Celestial Maiden. She said momma wasn't touched by time. I figured it out or at least I figured out part of it. I don't think momma wanted to think about anything that happened there for a long time. I told Sesshoumaru-sama about it though when he made her pack because of something he wouldn't tell us about. After that her family and their lands were declared off-limits and lots of pacts revolved around them. I wasn't taught what it meant until I got my fourth tail because Inu-baka was dying. Hanyo don't live as long as full yokai but they still live a lot longer than humans."

"So hurting her is very bad... okay, good to know," Tony said, properly impressed.

"Think of momma like... a healer that makes friends with everyone but is pure and powerful enough that some want to keep her even if she doesn't want to stay," Shippou suggested.

"Inaccurate," Sesshoumaru complained grumpily. "To you, _human_ , she is a hidden princess."

"I'm not sure that's a proper translation but that's probably as close as we can get without explaining things that sound dangerous and important," Clint put in, cutting off Tony's next attempt to dig more information out about the girl.

"Messing with time..." Rookwood murmured worriedly.

"Rookwood?" Tom demanded, his glare allowing no refusal to the demand for information.

"If this is linked to time manipulation especially with the supposed prophecy involving you and Potter then this could be linked partly to a recent experiment in the Department of Mysteries. They would have needed some sort of external link or catalyst to trigger the change and create new mystical links... I just don't know my lord. I'm not part of the time team and more than half of them mysteriously died recently," Rookwood reported with a helpless shrug. "They were really excited about some strange well in Japan and had planned a trip to investigate but were getting stonewalled by the Japanese Ministry. I _know_ most of them were planning on going any way but beyond that... nothing."

"Someone messed with momma's well?!" Shippou asked in a dangerously low voice.

"It was supposed to be on some shrine's grounds. Higurashi or something like that," Rookwood offered. He really wasn't sure what the big deal was but it was clear that the time team had screwed up big time.

"Momma's shrine," Shippou confirmed, rubbing at his suddenly aching forehead.

"The law is clear," Sesshoumaru pointed out.

"Momma has to be awake and we need to accept the new timeline as is. Our pack is now exempt from needing to hide but bound to guarding momma and her family," Shippou acknowledged. "Our memories can't be used by momma for her hunt because they will change as she changes things in the past and its better not to let her work with something that changeable. We can start training her properly and let momma see us and meet her first family."

"Good to know," Tony said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at the gleam of mischief hiding in Shippou's eyes. "So what does she actually need for all of this? It sounds like its important."

"Alpha needs to stop pretending he hasn't waited for momma for 500 years," Shippou said sweetly. The murderous golden gaze that Sesshoumaru turned on the kitsune just made him laugh, knowing that the Inu wouldn't hurt him permanently because he was Kagome's kit.

"Anything I can actually provide?" Tony asked, smirking. "I have plenty of money among other things."

"Momma needs a new sleeping bag and clothes that don't make her look like a whore in the past the way her school uniform does that she can move in but won't be easy to destroy. She also needs a proper bow and maybe a stock of modern arrows? Training in more than healing with herbs and bandages that she can get in the past. Possibly a cook set... a knife with an arm sheath or waist sheath," Shippou said thoughtfully. "For money... it might actually be better to give her trade stuff to sell, fewer questions to put her in danger. She could also do with schooling that works around her trips to the past and Inu-baka always saying she doesn't need it until she finished fixing the jewel. He still doesn't realize that she's given up on mating him and just thinks he's her brother/best friend. He hurt her too much, especially with him always sneaking off with the clay pot doll thing that Kikyo is by now."

"InuYasha fails to realize that she is attempting to fulfill her time's basic educational requirements and is fool enough to believe that she has no value except what he graciously gives her," Sesshoumaru growled. He never got along with his half brother and had always been appalled at how the welp treated his pack members. It wasn't until much later that he realized that _Kagome_ was pack alpha but that she just wasn't equipped to teach InuYasha and force him into proper behavior as beta. Now that his hands were freed on the matter he would not allow his younger half sibling to continue to treat her with such disrespect.

"You're going to tell your past self to beat 'Yasha into the ground and make him apologize properly to momma," Shippou laughed in gleeful recognition. Happy that InuYasha wouldn't be able to keep verbally abusing his momma and trying to destroy her without drawing blood.

"The pack will supply the Miko," Sesshoumaru said firmly, trying to distract both billionaire and kitsune.


	2. Medical Opinion

"That's impossible," Severus said in loud disbelief, once more drawing everyone's attention as he glared at the latest diagnostic results.

"Severus?" Tom asked pointedly.

"The runes and the ritual that was obviously used before our arrival might have posed a problem so I did a check for ritual magic. The three of them are related according to the diagnostic spell. Apparently, the muggle is Potter's blood Uncle on his mother's side and the girl is his cousin or half sister. There seems to be some confusion on that but I know for a fact that Lily only ever slept with her husband. Unless she was somehow blood adopted by Potter at birth, which I find highly unlikely, some other magic is at work. Legally they are both siblings and cousins. I know that Lily was adopted so it isn't out of the realm of possibility that she could be related to this man but if that were the case why would he not be raising Potter? Dumbledore gloats regularly about him being pampered by his muggle relatives and the blood wards, which he claims are protecting the home, require an actual blood link to work. It makes no sense! The damage from apparent abuse and semi-regular starvation also makes no sense from everything I know of the brat," Severus complained. He had already started fixing what damage he could with his limited emergency potions kit but it was going to be a long time before Harry was off special diets and potions to heal the damage.

Tom noted that Severus had already taken on a protective stance in regards to the two unconscious teens. If anyone threatened them they would obviously find themselves on the wrong end of the spy's skilled wand.

" _Abuse_?!" Tony hissed like a furious cat.

"He wont be going back," Tom promised grimly. He was still using his magic to pin almost everyone in place and was seriously contemplating murdering whoever had been supposedly taking care of Harry for the last fourteen and a half years.

"Momma wont let her new brother go back either once she finds out," Shippou tossed out. "If she used her Reiki on him and was already his cousin but he wanted a family bad enough momma might have instinctively adopted him. Yokai adoptions sometimes work like that but momma couldn't do that with me since I was so small and she didn't have enough control of her Reiki to not hurt me when trying it..."

"InuYasha was much worse before the Miko tamed him somewhat and she has done an acceptable job raising the rest of her pack," Sesshoumaru put in. "If she claims the young mage this one has no objection and welcomes him into the pack."

"If they are related to me, especially as closely as you say, then I'll deal with it," Tony said coldly. He hated the idea of children being hurt in a place they were supposed to be safe and the fact that these two were _family_ just made it worse. They would be taken care of and he would provide anything they needed as best as he was able whether it ranged from weapons and lessons on how to use them in actual combat to mystical mumbo jumbo. He was very possessive and protective of those he counted as true family, something which both teens had become without his active notice in the middle of the brief battle.

"You don't understand. Pack is _pack_. Kagome and her brother/cousin are _pack_. The pack cares for its own," Sesshoumaru said bluntly, his smile cold as he faced down the man who might be the Miko's true sire but not her father... yet. Both he and the kit could scent the family relationship intertwined between the three humans and the two teens had already been granted pack status. A status that _Tony_ hadn't yet _earned_. Kagome had sibling adopted her unknown cousin and as Alpha Sesshoumaru acknowledged her actions. Nothing had been done to include the man thus the yokai pack would not accept him until he had proven himself one way or another.

"Before any more arguments or discussions break out in regards to both teens we will have to put all our cards on the table. Let us deal with the threats and then investigate the situation both Potter and Kagome are in afterwards. We can jointly decide on what corrections to the situation need to be taken as its clear that there are multiple claims on both of them for varying reasons. We should also allow both of them some level of input or risk them running into danger in the future. Until all enemies related to this plot and any others are discovered and dealt with I propose a truce and alliance aimed at protecting, preparing, training, and supplying the pair as needed. Are their any objections?" Tom interjected before things could get further out of hand.

"Acceptable," Sesshoumaru rumbled with a briefly inclined head. He absently noted that Tony had figured out that there where three established alphas in the room: Sesshoumaru, Tony, and Tom.

"Yeah, okay but I insist on an investigation into both their home lives unless there is something specific that you guys already know which will throw everything off. If that's the case we can run a joint check on them and compensate as needed but only if there is a minimum 2 out of 3 votes or better to step in. That way no single one of us can go off half cocked. Active clear and present danger though is to be handled immediately by whoever is closest or has the closets effective resources in place and we can work out those specifics later," Tony proposed firmly. As strange as it might sound to people in the business world that might know him he was not willing to let kids suffer or get the raw end of the deal because he wasn't bargaining his hardest. These two would be protected and they would get to the bottom of this mess so that he could strangle whoever thought whatever this was was a good idea.

"That's nice and all but Potter at least needs a proper healer to see to him and the girl needs at the very least some form of pepper up. I am uncertain how her power will react to the potions I have with me. As she is in no immediate danger I deemed the potential risk too high and refrained. The moment Dumbledore hears about all of this he will do something to both the girl and the muggle to keep control of Potter and continue trying to get you killed my lord," Severus summarized bluntly. "It may well be years before Potter is fully healed even with powerful magics brought to bear and no interruptions to the healing schedule nor further attempts on his life."

"Something that won't stop simply because I realized that I was a fool to attack him and that the fault for the situation lies not with Potter but with Dumbledore. I will have to arrange what reparations I can and explain to him that he is now under my protection as a separate but related matter," Tom concluded with a grimace. _That_ eventual conversation was going to be difficult.

"If he's willing to do _this_ to Potter can we afford to allow him to remain in the school? Even with the problems of his death likely to turn him into a martyr?" Severus asked, waving his hand towards Harry to indicate his damaged health.

"No, no we can't. The very reason we don't attack the school is that it would put the children at risk. His actions with Potter have proven that he has no problem using them as human shields and weapons even if I was too blind to properly make the connection until the girl's power healed me. The side effect of her purifying power cleansing me when I didn't realize it was even needed means that I owe her two life debts for her actions this day. We can't let Dumbledore near either of them," Tom agreed with an aggravated growl. "Even removing Potter from Hogwarts and sending him to a different magical school wouldn't be enough. The British Ministry would simply order him forcibly returned and pass laws specifically to keep him here and under trusted control, damn the consequences to anyone else. His fame and hero status, unwanted or not, would get him declared a traitor if he told them no and bound as some sort of slave. Something which is _not_ acceptable. They would go even father with the girl not realizing her obviously important position and not caring."

"They need magical guardians recognized by the ministry as people too powerful to cross for any reason. People that even Dumbledore with bow too," Lucius Malfoy put in. "The blood relation has to be kept secret or be able to actively take on Dumbledore both legally and illegally."

"Perhaps we should properly introduce ourselves," Shippou announced with a laugh. "I am Shippou no Shikon, Nine-Tailed Kitsune of the West, Adoptive Son of the Shikon Miko, Yokai Guardian of the Well of Time more commonly known as the Bone Eater's Well, and Beta of the Pack of the West. This is Lord Sesshoumaru, Lord of the West, Killing Perfection, Alpha of the Pack of the West, the First Son and Heir to the Inu Taisho the Great Dog Demon and General of the West. We were both in London on business and we've been waiting a _long_ time for momma to be back or at least for it to be mostly safe to talk to her again."

"Oh _Hell_!" Lucius cursed.

"Okay, for magic and Yo-ki circles that's fine but who are you to the rest of us normal mortals?" Tony snarked. He had fought beside Thor against Loki so the power levels in the room actually didn't bother him too much. He just wanted to know who their public personas were so that he knew what they had to use for protecting his apparent children even if his new son was originally his nephew.

"Akahiko Taisho, Akahiko translates to Red Prince," Sesshoumaru answered with an evil chuckle. He had taken on the name Akahiko in honor of his past as the Killing Perfection. He would never willingly admit that it had also been to honor InuYasha's mostly forgotten status as a Prince through his human mother who regularly was seen in his red Fire Rat Robe. Taisho was for his father.

"Hikari Sato. I usually use one of the Clever kanji variations for Sato as a nod to my status as a kitsune and Hikari is for momma as well as my foxfire since it means light," Shippou informed him happily.

"Huh, I've been trying to get a meeting with both of you any way. Let me officially introduce myself name's Tony Stark. I won't even make a crack about my normal reputation," Tony greeted them cordially. "Its nice to officially meet you both, Mr. Taisho, Mr. Sato."

"Okay, you are definitely getting checked once we get back. That was way too polite from you and I refuse to get blamed for letting someone pulling a mind control on you getting access to your Ironman suits," Clint declared firmly.

"I do know manners I just don't usually bother because I don't see much point. These two men have my respect and both put me in my place as a teaching lesson when I was younger. They could have used my insult to destroy me but they didn't and even gave me a few pointers when I got up the courage to apologize to them. Think of them as secret mentors even if we only ever saw each other a few times," Tony informed them. "Obadiah, the backstabbing traitor, made me reliant on him and I didn't find out until after his death that he had realized that if they kept helping me he couldn't try that lethal hostile take over attempt. I'm just lucky that I was genius enough and the terrorists were stupid enough to try forcing me into building things for them. It was a rude little wake up call but I survived it even with the shrapnel in my chest constantly trying to kill me as a souvenir."

"You just love destroying our dossier on you don't you?" Natasha growled. She had personally gathered or confirmed most of that dossier and to find it so incomplete as to miss not only family but such important business connections was highly irritating.


	3. Time's Marker

"You can stop pretending momma. The timelines are already changed. We just can't talk about what you haven't already lived yet," Shippou said sadly, outing the fact that Kagome was awake and had been for some time. Kagome sighed and sat up, blatantly ignoring the pressure from Tom's magic and took a proper look at everyone mostly still being kept pinned in place.

"How much did you hear?" Tony asked curiously.

"She woke up when the hanyo died for insulting her and basically calling her no better than a slave and definitely a whore," Shippou smirked sadistically. The fool died too quickly for his insult but they were in front of humans and had no way to both properly punish him while protecting the two teens as members of the pack. "Her heart beat changed."

"I will pen a letter to my younger self so that you might have aid in the past the next time you cross paths Miko," Sesshoumaru rumbled. Kagome turned to face him only to stare curiously at his regrown arm but refraining from asking about it while accepting his offer with a respectful nod.

Tom's raised eyebrow aimed at Severus had the potion master shrugging. "She needed rest, wasn't moving, was effectively acting as a second pair of eyes for attacks with her own power, and wasn't being stupid about the battle being fought around us. I saw no reason not to let her keep pretending that she was unconscious especially since if they got close enough and took me out she could act as a nasty surprise for anyone trying to get the pair of them while the rest of us were distracted."

Tom nodded his acceptance of the very sensible reasoning before finally turning his attention to their prisoners. The very audible gulps from the prisoners made all three alphas grin evilly.

"I got the kids and the medic," Tony offered as he eyed the obvious bad guys with great suspicion.

"We got the ones who hurt momma," Shippou said confidently his evil grin gaining a sharper edge. Sesshoumaru nodded his agreement. They both would want a pound of flesh from the idiots who had attacked Kagome but that could come after a tentative alliance with everyone else was sorted out and Kagome's adopted brother was healed.

"3, 2, 1," Tom counted down before promptly lifting his magic. Two of the enemy were on the ball and apparated from their prone positions immediately making Tom swear viciously but the other 12 were contained without issue and disarmed by the very fast pair of Yokai. All told the summoning group had originally numbered somewhere close to 35. The Death Eaters had the prisoners under control so everyone settled into a sort of impromptu meeting on various pieces of conjured and transfigured furniture to keep talking. Harry was very carefully levitated into a bed and kept nearby while Severus tended to him.

"So, was there some way we could have kept them from teleporting? Its just that the way you swore was not _an enemy has a neat trick that is hard to stop_ but more along the lines of _oh shit, I forgot about that_ ," Tony asked pointedly.

"Yes," Tom said, glaring at the spots the two disappeared from. "The problem is that we had no warning of the summoning, there was no planned raid, and we had absolutely no intel on our possible opponents. We still don't really know who any of them are with the special concealment spells they are using. As such determining their abilities even on a general basis is somewhat difficult. Its the fact that at least half of them used wands in the brief battle that makes forgetting to account for apparation as an escape method stupid. Its a standard skill that you get a license for once you hit 17 at least among the British witches and wizards."

"To be fair fighting a battle while getting your soul healed can be a bit distracting," Kagome pointed out cheerfully. "The piece of your soul that my patient holds didn't go back to you so I will need to look at you both more closely to see what is going on.... Hey, I'm speaking English with no trouble! I wonder why it kicked in now instead of when we arrived."

"What's your normal language?" Tony frowned in thoughtful concern.

"Japanese. InuYasha, Sesshoumaru's younger brother, tries to stop me from getting my school work done while we hunt down the jewel shards. I'm already out of school most of the time for the hunt and that baka keeps insisting that school can wait until after the jewel is fixed and he gets his stupid wish," Kagome explained in open irritation. "It makes doing school work really difficult and trying to read English is very different from trying to speak it so its my worst subject aside from math and science. I have to do all my school stuff without help and sometimes it gets destroyed by attacking demons who are after the jewel shards we collect."

"Baka-yasha just wants to have the jewel make him a full demon," Shippou pointed out ruthlessly.

The kitsune had made his peace with the Inu half-demon a long time ago but he still hoped to save his mother some heart break now that he had the perspective and experience of an adult. It was clear to him now that the pair as a couple would be both unstable and possibly dangerous if taken romantically with how often they fought and how often fists tended to fly. It was still always funny to remember the times that InuYasha pissed his mother off badly enough that she used the subjugation beads. The craters InuYasha's body tended to make in the turf when it was used multiple times in a row were sometimes useful later.

"Yes, I know," Kagome agreed, resigned. "We've kept up the outward appearance of my pinning after him but its actually shifted to a brother-sister relationship. His continued interest with Kikyo and her status as a reanimated clay pot are still immeasurably sad and gross though."

"Momma... what point are you at in your travels?" Shippou asked suspiciously.

"Naraku isn't dead yet," Kagome said evasively. She didn't want to worry her kit. She was used to protecting the time stream with her frequent trips back and forth through time.

"So the well didn't close yet," Shippou added, watching his adoptive mother carefully.

"Oh... so it does close," Kagome drooped. They all had known it was a possibility but she would miss her friends when the time came. "As for where we are in the time stream... We finished off So'unga a couple of months ago."

"Oh so _that's_ what the disturbance in Japan was," Shippou nodded in understanding. "So how did he react when you gave him his new necklace?"

Kagome just smirked in amusement. The rivalry between InuYasha and Shippou as something close to adoptive brothers often needed her to mediate but it also often produced amusing results for the rest of the group of shard hunters. Her decision to give him a new necklace with beads of subjugation had less to do with keeping him from running off than she had led him to believe after the So'unga fiasco. It was more to do with the fact that when he let go of his temper he could do actual serious damage to the rest of the group. There was also the fact that she had used them in combat to keep him alive more than once. The extra jerk in a different direction in mid-air was priceless during a fight to dodge many nasty attacks.

"Oh, I almost forgot. The children from that island have settled in nicely with Kaede. She's already teaching them medicine to help when the village needs a healer. They obviously can't perform any priest or priestess duties being hanyo but the village seems to be accepting them for now," Kagome reported happily.

"That's good," Shippou agreed just as Harry groaned awake. Severus kept him from getting up as he kept an eye in the mother-son bonding in case the few injuries that Kagome had acted up. "When did that one happen?"

"Last week," Kagome admitted. It might not seem like it but between dealing with the evil sword So'unga and the Mystic Island that housed many hanyo along with the so-called four war gods a couple of months had passed. She had insisted on a time to get caught up with her school work and been backed up by both Miroku, the perverted monk, and Sango, the demon hunter, both dear friends and part of the shard hunting group. Time healing and training while Kagome studied and trained a bit turned out to be a good thing. They had needed a bit of a rest even if it wasn't really a proper rest.

"Have you found the Kitsune tribe yet and made my adoption official?" Shippou asked with a grin.

"Yup!" Kagome grinned right back.

"I thought you said something about a magical instinctive adoption," Clint put in, wanting clarification.

"She did that one when I joined their group. The formal adoption came _much_ later," Shippou shrugged.

"Profess'r?" Harry asked, obviously in pain.

"Mr. Potter, you will not panic," Severus ordered sternly. "We are not at Hogwarts and the Dark Lord had more than enough time to try and kill you. He has declared you under his protection for the moment so _don't_ do anything stupid. The situation is far from simple and we will need to know what you observed before we arrived and found you unconscious."

"Did Fred and George slip you a youth potion or something?" Harry asked, his voice horse after a few minutes of silence as everyone surreptitiously looked him over from wherever they were standing.

Tom snorted while Severus took a better look at himself and made a noise of disgust. He had adapted to the change in his body without consciously realizing it had happened mid-battle until Harry had pointed it out to him.

"Sorry. My Miko powers latched on to fixing his soul and since part of him was a lot younger than the rest it kind of reset his age a bit? You got caught in the backwash but as a bonus it should have also fixed any health problems you might have had," Kagome informed him sheepishly. Severus gave her the stink eye but opted not to actually address the matter. After all his joints didn't hurt and the nerve damage from repeated exposure to the cruciartus curse _was_ fixed. In fact the healing was far beyond what his own potion could manage in regards to the damage from the cruciartus curse.

"She's still got the seal on her powers," Shippou said flatly, having turned towards Sesshoumaru.

The Daiyokai made a disgruntled noise of agreement. Neither of them liked having Kagome's powers mostly sealed and thus unreliable in execution. They would have to be vigilant in case some _idiot_ thought to kill her or steal her powers or something equally as stupid. Whether she knew it or not she was to be the female alpha of the pack of the west even if she never got together with Sesshoumaru. It was a status that he had granted her in the past and one he wasn't willing to revoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Further ideas/suggestions/questions?


	4. Stable Condition

Harry had passed out a second time and immediately worried everyone in the large stone ritual room, including the people who had essentially kidnapped and beaten him.

"Okay, if he's going in and out like that do we call for help or risk moving him? Because I'm not going to loose him over some shitty bad guys deciding to beat the hell out of this kid. Even if he turns out not to be family this is not something any kid should be put through," Tony demanded.

"If I put him into a form of stasis and whoever sees to him is either aware of the magical community or doesn't ask too many questions we can probably move him. I didn't insist on it earlier because I couldn't tell how bad some of it was until he actually woke up. My training is as a potions master _not_ a healer. I can act as a medic in a pinch and my training is almost identical to a healer up to a point but I am _not_ a healer," Severus flatly informed everyone.

"Recommendation as the medic on site?" Clint asked seriously.

"I need more supplies and we need a proper healer. A muggle, non-magical, doctor would only be able to handle some of this and would be rightly horrified on top of wondering how he's alive. Hell, _I'm_ wondering how he's alive!" Severus ranted. "Don't even ask me to evaluated the fallout from this because I don't know and can't afford to speculate until the imp is _far_ closer to surviving to see his next birthday."

"So moving him is probably not feasible just yet and even putting him to bed earlier was a risk," Tony summarized grimly. Severus went back to hovering over his most injured patient and ignoring everyone else in favor of keeping the green-eyed imp _alive_.

"I could send our prisoners off to one of the holding areas we have set up but at this point we should probably get the ministry involved," Tom admitted with a grimace.

"Like _that_ will end well," Shippou scoffed. "We'd be better off requesting a healer from Gringotts and a goblin to aid in creating an inter-species treaty even if we only sign it for a business deal set up."

"At least the business deal would give us something to work with without having everyone throwing a fit over supposedly signing on behalf of everyone else," Tony pointed out reasonably. "The catch is still going to be getting everything and everyone we need here quickly."

"A business agreement to see to the aid and health of the Miko and her new brother while recognizing his new status," Sesshoumaru pointed out. "If it was signed in blood all of the communities except the mundane one would accept it as fully binding and legal. Its broad enough but also specific enough that it shouldn't cause issues."

"As long as there is a proviso that any discovered conflict or issue between any of us and our respective people, including Lady Kagome and Mr. Potter is to be dealt with among us. I want to keep what we can in house if possible," Tom added firmly. "I have an active conflict with Potter that badly needs sorting in a way that doesn't get people killed if possible and this strikes me as the perfect way to get outside help and mediation. I do, however, officially recognize that the eventual solution may not be palatable to everyone involved and I want this fully binding."

"Rookwood go to Diagon. I need a brass cauldron, a silver potions knife, 6 oz of powdered blood root, 5 juniper berries, a liter of moonlight soaked pure water still in its silver purification bowl, moonstone, lavender, and peppermint. Make certain it isn't spearmint or some other form of mint," Severus suddenly ordered. Rookwood immediately obeyed, apparating away with a loud _crack_.

"Severus?" Tom inquired.

"If I combine the girding potion and the general class 3 healing potion from my kit I might be able to temporarily boost his normal healing rate. The catch is we have to get some food and several doses of nutrition potion into him immediately. Luckily, I keep nutrition potions in my kit in case of missed meals to keep Narcissa off my back," Severus answered absently. He was carefully feeding his unconscious patient a bit of candy that had been in his pocket as a bribe for one of the werewolves before following up with the nutrition potions.

"We should probably contact his guardians to be on the legal side," Natasha reminded everyone reluctantly.

"Ah, well you see we are kind of already here?" one of the prisoners informed them tentatively.

"Explain," Tom demanded in full angry Dark Lord mode.

"His relatives or whoever was taking care of him until this summer basically sold him to us. It wasn't originally our idea and the bastard that insulted the young lady told us he wanted to eat Potter. We talked him into letting us use the ritual to summon Potter's actual blood related family with the idea of possibly using all of them as bargaining chips. We, those of us who didn't actually want him dead, were planning to use the bargaining chip idea to keep him alive and uneaten by the werewolf bastard," a different one offered helpfully.

"Traitors! I'll have the lot of you kissed!" screeched an unfortunately familiar female voice.

"Delores Umbridge," Lucius Malfoy said distastefully, easily recognizing the voice of the normally pink clad witch. "Wasn't your harassment of Mr. Potter all last year as one of his teachers not enough?!"

"Lucius, don't kill her," Severus scolded absently. He was still tending to Harry and was mentally cursing Rookwood for being slow even though he knew it would take time to purchase the ingredients and supplies.

"Why ever not?" Tom asked slightly petulantly with shrewd eyes.

"We need answers about his detentions this past year and whatever she tried to do that led Miss. Granger into tricking her into being captured by the local centaur herd," Severus explained as he finally looked up from his patient, the current treatment done. "Granger is a fussy little know-it-all and likely knew exactly what she was condemning the woman too. This is especially important since the school's treaty with the local herd grants a certain level of protection to the students and most staff if they are respectful of the forest. That Umbridge obviously broke the treaty and likely tried to hurt at least Potter is the only reason I can think of for the centaurs to resort to taking her and Dumbledore needing to retrieve her himself. I want to know what pushed Granger into condemning Umbridge to being used as a breeding slave by the largely peaceful centaur herd."

"That... is a very good question," Tom agreed, his voice hard as steel as his eyes flashing bright ruby for a moment. Shippou and Sesshoumaru, more familiar with the brutal reasoning behind such a punishment, growled in anger. The vile woman would not bring harm to their newest packmate again!

"This is sounding more and like he would be safer helping me hunt jewel shards in the past," Kagome said in open concern. Shippou and Sesshoumaru immediately stilled.

"There's an idea," Shippou said with a devious little thoughtful frown.

"My missive may need to be quite lengthy and you would likely need to coerce InuYasha into helping you immediately deliver it to my younger self but it is possibly doable," Sesshoumaru said equally thoughtfully.

"Fury is going to pitch a fit," Clint commented idly. Natasha just snorted her agreement.

"Not until he is healed enough to survive the journey," Severus demanded with a scowl. "That means if not fully healed than nearly so. We have no idea how the healing magics would react to the probable transport methods involved in this... debacle."

"The well has only ever let InuYasha and momma through it but not many people know about it and have actually tried," Shippou pointed out.

"Still the drop into the well wouldn't be safe for him in his current condition even if the well lets him through," Kagome corrected her grown son. "Then there may be requirements we don't know about such as needing to not be alive on the other end or needing to wear something infused with my Miko power. The well its self might test anyone who tries in a fashion we may know nothing about. I have no objection with trying to take him to the past with me for a bit but I agree he has to be healthy for at least the first try."

Rookwood returned with a loud _crack_ of apparation, drawing everyone's attention. Severus went to snap about the lack of supplies only to bite his tongue as he realized the person next to his fellow Death Eater was a certified healer from Gringotts. Healer and Potions Master immediately confered, examining Harry a second time in case of changes before starting to work on him again.

"His magic is incredibly powerful but also almost completely exhausted," the healer said flatly an hour later. "If we try to give him any more potions or use any spells that draw his own magic into the healing it could very well kill him. Whatever is inside or behind his famous scar isn't helping but it also isn't causing harm... for the moment. I can tell it has some kind of sentience since it has opted to stop drawing from his magic to allow him a chance at recovery. We will have to be very careful with his treatment until his magic levels have recovered to a safer level."

"I'm just glad I didn't have to try feeding him an experimental potion with almost no time to check it," Severus grimaced. It would have been a terrible risk but he hadn't been sure they could get Harry to help without it. If nothing else the base potions wouldn't have hurt him.

"Agreed. Professionally speaking I'd ask you to continue with investigating that potion possibility for other heavily injured cases in the future," the healer put in. "I have been contracted to act as his healer until he has reached full health. To me this means at least attempting to fix the older damage as well. Would you be willing to work with me on that?"

"Merlin, yes! If I had any solid indication that he was being mistreated I would have taken immediate steps to correct it," Severus agreed fervently. At this point he was glad for the sudden declaration of Harry being under the Dark Faction's protection because he no longer had to hide the fact that he was protecting the imp.

"And my son says that you are a terror to those not of Slytherin house," Lucius smirked.

"That is for a mix of reasons. As per house policy I attempt to support Slytherin house with punishments kept in house and out of the public eye," Severus reminded his friend with a sneer. "Then there is the blatant favoritism that I have to counter that is heavily in favor of Gryffindor and heavily against Slytherins. Not to mention the increased meddling of the old fool with direct orders from said fool to be as antagonistic towards the imp as possible. It made the Occlumency lessons he forced me to give Potter _hellish_. I was promised he had at least basic training as a pureblood in the art, thus only requiring being attacked mentally to work the muscle into something that could keep our lord _out_. It took some time to realize that he had _no_ training. I found an excuse to terminate the lessons as fast as I could to keep from destroying his unprepared mind. Sadly it will take a great deal of time and effort to repair the damage and any attempt I make to do the repairs will put us both at risk."

"Why?" Tony asked bluntly, eyes narrowed in suspicion. The prisoners had been taken away by most of the Death Eaters at some point while select members of the Inner Circle the three Avengers and the two Yokai remained. Kagome had given them a _look_ when someone had suggested taking her somewhere else before returning to checking Harry's remaining wounds. Her stance was clear, she wasn't leaving her patient/cousin/brother/pack member.

"The art of mental defense, Occlumency, requires a great deal of trust when learning it for the most part," Tom sighed. "This requirement is even higher for healing damage caused by mental attacks, which is what is used to help train the mental muscles. Severus _is_ certified for mental healing using it as well as its sister art, Legilimency. The problem is the lack of trust and the amount of time since the damage was done."

"Not to mention how damn close Dumbledore watches his golden boy," Severus scowled. "Incidentally there is absolutely _no_ way the old bastard doesn't know about Potter's poor health history."

"Which is why you were debating removing him and insisting that the kid wasn't going back home," Clint concluded. The various nods of agreement confirmed it.

"I am hoping that getting my own return to sanity recognized will help the situation somewhat in that I will be able to formally take charge of him. I can probably do it anyway but he is also a celebrity for stopping me as an infant during a civil war. The magic on top of the blasted _politics_ is going to be a nightmare," Tom explained with a brooding scowl.

"Tony, I really hate to say this but... one of the Avengers needs to adopt him and you are in the best position to do it," Natasha said with a grimace.

"Why? Not why should I adopt him because I think that part is pretty clear but why are you suggesting it?" Tony demanded suspiciously.

"Rumor has it that Dumbledore has been training Potter to deal with all of the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, if he comes back, single-handedly. What little I have seen here today tells me he hasn't had any specialized training," Natasha reported firmly. the _like mine_ was left unspoken. "His power level and skill aren't high enough to do the job and he's obviously no assassin. Mr. Potter has essentially been slated to die for some reason on top of being used as a child soldier without appropriate training. Dumbledore is powerful politically and magically so using your fame and money in connection with his adoption will actually provide a barrier to him being forced back. The yokai pack status will do the same among the supernatural communities."

"How, exactly, do you know this?" Lucius demanded bluntly.

"I'm a squib. I was slated for the assassin and infiltration program before I was six in Russia. Magic was considered a bonus but not a requirement," Natasha told him flatly. "It wouldn't have mattered anyway if I was a muggle as all candidates were inducted as part of the Russian magical community. A number of our training missions were actually hunting down criminals on both sides."

"The Widow program," Lucius said in sudden comprehension. "My apologies Madame Widow. Your induction was a bit more than a simple introduction to the magical society as a whole. You were declared as a section of the Russian counter-part organization that mirrored our Hit Wizards and, in some cases, the Department of Mysteries. Any graduates of the Widow program were declared to be of benefit to magical society and thus had earned the right to free medical care, at least in Britain. The only proviso was that you could not be on a mission for your government to destabilize or otherwise harm our territories. Some of the procedures that were so misused in your program were turned towards saving lives and those who suffered them within the program were declared victims. Your... hunter status was simply another benefit. Any extra benefits offered were passed on to your superiors. I gathered from my father's notes that they were all rejected and we were told to keep our grubby paws off and noses out of their business."

"Oh quit trying to forget his condition and stop hovering. Baby Potter will be fine," Bellatrix insisted. She wasn't actually insane. She just liked to act like it and had an extremely twisted sense of humor. Proving this to those actively aware of her reputation she conjured seating and moved everyone but the actual healer and the two yokai into the new furniture surrounding Harry's bed.

"Did I miss something?" Tony asked mildly as he settled into his comfortable chair covered in acid green and bubblegum pink bunnies.

"My sister-in-law is very much a mother hen and has an extremely twisted sense of humor. She was also somewhat caught in the twisting of our lord's magic and has thus been healed alongside him despite being on the other side of the room. She is quite taken with young Potter and is apparently fed up with us alternately sneaking looks or attempting to slip closer to check his injuries," Lucius shrugged. "And yes, there is _very_ visible evidence for that healing just in the short time we've been here."

"Yes, yes, yes, I haven't cackled in a couple of hours," Bellatrix waved off giving a fake pout to her brother-in-law.

"Love, we _were_ caught in the magic twisting," Rodolphus Lestrange reminded her as he pulled his wife from her standing position into his lap.

"Our attack was justified! They took my baby!" Bella growled, sorrow clear to anyone who looked at her.

"But we were unstable enough that it got caught up in the twisting magic. I just thank god Amazon Augusta had the baby hidden away when we arrived in that state. The little Longbottom wouldn't have come out unscathed if she hadn't and this way even with our time in Azkaban we only attacked the two who actually were involved in taking my nephew and not an innocent," Rabastan pointed out. "Legally, we were in the right under magical law but we were also under undue influence and they didn't even bother checking."

"As your Liege Lord, bound by a magical loyalty oath, you should have been handed over to me for punishment in any case," Tom pointed out with a snort of disgust aimed at both the ministry and himself. "I, unfortunately, had gone and gotten myself blown up before then by the brat we are all hovering over. Of course until my mind was fixed I had no idea I was getting played nor was I even sane enough to realize how much blasted _damage_ I was doing. Incidentally, I owe you a life debt for that healing, miss."

"I was just happy to help but you do realize that it isn't finished and that you are somehow linked to him?" Kagome pointed out. "If anything I owe you for being part of the timely rescue."

"Shall we call it even then and I will count you as a friend?" Tom suggested. He had recognized the same protective and self sacrificing trait he had seen in Potter now that he looked at his memories with eyes clear of insanity. There was no mention of the link and Kagome gave him a _look_ but dropped the matter for the moment. Shippou snickered at the sight of the _look_ but made a mental note to help his momma pin the man down later, dark lord or not.

"Hn, you might find yourself regretting claiming her as a friend at times if my half-brother was to be believed," Sesshoumaru commented blank faced but eyes laughing. Kagome whipped around to stare at the Daiyokai hard.

"Yes, momma, he admitted that he's related to Inu-baka," Shippou laughed. It was both an ongoing joke and an unfortunate fact that the two sons of the Inu no Taisho had never gotten on until Kagome had managed to make them.

"One question, Kagome right?" Tony asked. Kagome nodded her acknowledgement. "What was it you did when you asked me to stall the idiots?"

"Oh! I used the left over magic to call for protectors for us. It was just a tweak to the summoning they had already set up," Kagome answered honestly. "I don't know about you but I can't take on nearly 40 people on my own. My Miko powers worked well enough as a trigger and my will or at least my intent directed the slight change in what they had already set out and used to grab us. There was a _lot_ of magic left over so I think they accidentally over powered it. From what they said and what I read in the power we are both related to Mr. Potter. They used his blood as both a homing beacon of sorts and a power source."

"That... explains a lot and I gotta tell you that I know almost nothing about magic," Tony admitted with a blink of surprise. "We will have to get blood checks done so that we can make the lawyers happy because I have _lots_ of money. I can tell you right now that after all of this? I don't feel comfortable just letting either of you walk away without making sure you'll be alright. If we do find that we're actually related though we'll have to work on it from there and figure out this crazy situation."

"That makes perfect sense... who are you and what have you done with Tony?" Clint asked seriously.

"Legolas, if you quit openly questioning my identity in this mess I'll see about getting you a shiny new bow and a way to carry extra arrows," Tony offered with a roll of his eyeballs.

"Openly? That means I can still check that you're you," Clint pointed out suspiciously.

"Kitsune in the room - known for shape shifting and illusions, Loki with his illusions and magic, magic men also in the room... Its not far fetched enough to not take as a serious possibility so yes, you can check and no, I don't want to keep hearing you ask," Tony snarked. "Besides I don't really think the three of us aren't related I'm just using the process we set up in dealing with people claiming to be my kid to keep a more normal perspective until we've got legal proof. Once that's all confirmed officially we can start hunting whoever split and hid our family. Once that's done we can get to either rewarding people being protective or suing the greedy bastards that want us hurt or dead."

"Fair enough," Natasha conceded for the pair of them. Both she and Clint knew they were in the clear since they hadn't left each other's side much before being dumped into the war zone of a room and had kept close to each other during the fight.

"I think we might have Mr. Potter stable enough to be moved," the Gringotts healer interrupted the discussion with a frown aimed at Harry and his condition. "I would recommend getting him moved either by muggle transport or floating stretcher only. He can't handle portkey, apparation, floo, or broom travel at the moment and flying carpet is illegal in this country."

"Why is it illegal?" Tony asked suspiciously.

"Politics and a hefty bribe from the broom companies," Lucius easily admitted with a shrug.

"You know if we openly carry him in our yokai forms to a hospital and let the reporters catch us doing it..." Shippou pointed out thoughtfully.

"It _would_ be good publicity," Kagome agreed aware of the need for a good impression and how one's reputation could help or harm an endevour. The Japan of the pst had taught her _many_ things.

"Magic can't do everything," Tom, the current most powerful Dark Lord, warned. "It is not a miracle cure-all."

"Oh, believe me I know," Kagome agreed easily. "We can get around a lot of the issue by openly admitting that everyone is hiding specifically because it was abused and because so many tried to stamp it out. By admitting that we've kept the world safe from idiots trying to end it and flatly informing everyone that the people and power involved are not toys nor are they all powerful we keep them from making dangerous mistakes. We can probably get magic reclassified as a type of science or at least officially get across the fact that it has limits and unique dangers to users and victims alike."

"Mr. Potter will need a great deal of rest. I have provided Potion Master Snape with the potions list he will need once he is moved somewhere he can actually recover rather than this ritual location. Once he is settled, assuming there are no complications from the transport, I will visit daily then eventually weekly. My visits will continue until my services are dismissed or he is in acceptable health," the healer informed them primly. Honestly, the teen was more in danger from his magical exhaustion and the long term damage rather than the injuries from the beating despite the original blood loss. Master Snape was a decent medic and had kept things from going to hell in a hand basket with his chosen treatments.

"So a helicopter to a good hotel and a bunch of us staying with him in a suite until he's okay to go further," Tony summarized bluntly. Pulling out his mostly forgotten cell phone Clint handed it to the billionaire with a sigh. Tony nodded his thanks and started making calls and working with JARVIS to sort things out. He started the process of flat out buying the chosen hotel with vague plans of making it a neutral zone for the mixing of magical, mundane, and supernatural events and customers. A helicopter arrived shortly there after using directions from Shippou to find the place.

In the end only Tony, Kagome, Harry, Shippou, Sesshoumaru, Tom, Severus, Clint, and Natasha would be staying in the penthouse Tony had picked out and rented while the building purchase was processed. Kagome was _very_ apologetic when they discovered that her protector summoning kept them within a 100ft radius of each other unless they had every intent to return. Severus had muttered something about Potter Luck. Shippou had sighed at his mother's knack for getting into strange unintended situations. While Natasha grumbled about not being able to update Tony's file at SHIELD.

All in all it was an eventful afternoon.


	5. Old Habits Die Hard

Clint supposed it was bound to happen once they had been moved to a safer location for the kid but it didn't stop his bemusement at the way Tony was cursing up a storm. It also didn't stop his own sense of fury when he snagged Harry's medical history away from the cursing billionaire to see exactly how bad it was. It wasn't often that Hawkeye considered actively hunting down civilians with cold blooded murder on the mind and little care for the consequences but this was one of those times. Dear god, the teen's medical report had been worse than some _torture_ victims that he'd been involved in rescuing had been! The two yokai had also looked at the report, growling in anger over the results, and the two wizards hadn't been much better. 

_Kagome_ had been the one to reel everyone in and set them to doing something constructive with their anger and the newly confirmed information. As a result no less than _twenty_ private detectives total which were sourced from a mix of the communities - mundane, magical, and supernatural - started looking into the lives of both Harry and Kagome. Kagome had been less than thrilled to be included in the information search but couldn't argue that it wasn't a good way to find more information on their potential connections with each other.

"To make you all feel a bit better Harry, Tony, and I will all have DNA tests done at some point to check if we are related and how," Kagome informed the group the next morning. It was a poor attempt at a distraction but it also mostly kept everyone from actively plotting murder. Not that she could blame them but she would much rather they focus on getting Harry healed and back on his feet before they contemplated a live human hunt. At least she knew they were unlikely to actually _eat_ such prey considering most yokai of the past thought of humans as a food source. She was still _angry_ with Kouga for his pack eating humans and especially for having killed and eaten Rin, Sesshoumaru's ward, the first time the little girl had died.

"That's one way to distract everyone but you do realize that we are Slytherins?" Severus asked, smirking evilly.

"I know perfectly well that at least the yokai won't drop it," Kagome snorted. "I just think we need to give Harry a say in the matter and to make sure that whoever did this didn't manage to kill him anyway in the end. If you are going to destroy someone do it right and limit the collateral damage if possible. Threats to the world have a slightly different damage scale allowance and sometimes a time restriction but the principle is the same. In both situations though you ask who this hurts and the ramifications of both ignoring them and stopping them as well as various methods for both. Loss of life is not the only reason to stop someone or risk the loss of lives to stop them. There are things more damaging to the mind, body, and soul than simple killing or the ending of a life."

"Go momma!" Shippou cackled. _This_ was the woman wise enough to see that he just wanted his family to rest in peace and the Thunder Brothers stopped. _This_ was the woman who adopted a Kitsune kit and made friends across Japan, ending ancient feuds, and healing where there was harm to body, mind, and soul. _This_ was the woman who had figured out how to take down Naraku and keep their motley pack alive.

Sesshoumaru rumbled his approval and started plotting how to get her to accept him as mate and husband.

"I have to report in," Severus told them quietly.

"Me trapping you with an important magically bound secret task won't cut it?" Tom asked piercingly. Severus looked away from him and refused to respond.

"Severus' position as an open spy didn't get him off fully with the punishments handed out when you fell," Lucius corrected carefully. He had arrived around breakfast with the healer to check on how he was to work Fudge and the Ministry. "He was declared as needing a guardian and handed over to Dumbledore. I got away with heavy fines and the story that I was coerced via the Imperius. Even with the punishments you handed out for apparent disloyalty while you were indisposed I knew my value to anyone banked heavily on my political influence. As such I worked to maintain it in the face of a situation I had no real information on that appeared catastrophic to our faction. Severus... didn't have that kind of shield."

"When did you get access to the sealed records on me?" Severus huffed mutinously.

"The year Draco turned 8," Lucius admitted, eyes haunted with worry for his friend. "If your value hadn't been so damned high..."

"I would have been made into a slave or sentenced to the Kiss. If they were feeling vindictive it would have been torture before being tossed through the veil. I _know_. They were kind enough to graphically inform me of the options they had considered," Severus said flatly. "The vow of protection for the imp that I was tricked into kept him from using anything overly damaging to my ability to function such as arranging for me to be crippled or raped. In that I owe Potter a thanks but I am only one man and can only do so much to keep him alive and well, especially with the other restrictions that I have to work with. Most of the restrictions and the like were eased once he was actually at Hogwarts. Thankfully, after the first year or so of teaching after the war most of my fellow teachers realized that I wasn't a monster in the first place. Although, I dislike how many of them believe that Dumbledore is protecting me rather than acting as my jailer with the right to giving me a summary execution on a whim."

"I got some of what was done to him lifted but, legally, Dumbledore still holds near complete control over him. On the surface most of what was done seamed fairly reasonable but the man is an expert at mind games and manipulation. Severus is only sane because Dumbledore still sees a use for him if only as a potions teacher. All the while he tricks and brainwashes the children into believing that he is both harmless and the perfect person to look to without question. It isn't safe to leave him in control of the school but every attempt to get him removed has failed," Lucius summarized succinctly. "Dumbledore is also Potter's magical guardian with direct access to his inheritance and his parent's wealth until he claims his Lordship."

"At the rate things are going the imp wont survived to graduation and I will die defending him," Severus chuckled mirthlessly. He didn't mind protecting Harry but it was frustrating not being able to do it properly and forced into the mold of an evil enemy teacher. At this point there was no real way to build a family relationship unless the imp decided he was worthy as a lover or a potential husband, neither of which Dumbledore would ever allow. They had started to build a sort of rival friendship based on snark and the appearance of being enemies. Unfortunately, there was no telling when he would be forced into actually causing damage to the imp and how much trust that would break.

"Wrong, when he became part of the pack with momma adopting him Alpha became his magical guardian," Shippou informed them all with a toothy grin.

"Do you owe my newest pack member anything or is it only a vow of protection?" Sesshoumaru inquired, staring directly at Severus.

"A life debt inherited from his father," Severus squeezed out with a strangled voice. It was clear that he was fighting something magical rather than just his pride to get the information out.

"On behalf of my pack member I invoke the life debt and claim you for our pack," Sesshoumaru declared evilly. Magic flared and dropped Severus to his knees as black ink bled from his left arm. A nasty hiss that spoke of danger issued from the ink only to be countered with a furious hiss of parseltongue from the Dark Lord. The ink abruptly cut off its own hissing and peacefully fell to the floor where it lay for a few moments before dissolving into nothingness.

"If I had realized sooner what you were doing I could have disarmed that safety precaution faster," Tom said grumpily. He was both sad and happy to loose Severus as one of his people. Hopefully easing the transfer would help the situation rather than harm it.

"Why aren't you upset?" Shippou asked with a frown.

"Because, despite my previous insanity, I consider Severus a friend. Even as a relative unknown your pack is likely safer for him than leaving him under Dumbledore's control," Tom told them bluntly. "This got my friend free of the old bastard and it isn't like I wont see him ever again. I'll need to keep in contact with your pack over Potter if nothing else."

"You know what that string was yesterday," Kagome said with certainty. Tom grimaced but didn't deny it.

"So are you going to tell us about? It is relevant to the health of the kid lying in the other room after all," Tony pointed out nonchalantly.

"I did something stupid when I was sixteen. I used magic to take advantage of a schoolmate's accidental death. The side effects of the ritual caused a large part of my instability and had an unrecorded addictive quality along with many unrecorded side effects. I did my research long before the opportunity to cast the ritual arrived and the information simply wasn't there. The ritual... split my soul," Tom admitted warily.

"If it split your soul once then why did I heal more than one split yesterday?" Kagome asked calmly. She was somewhat familiar with this type of magic being the subject of it to revive Kikyo. She had also faced it on multiple occasions when fighting Naraku and his incarnations.

"Its because of a mix of the instability, the unrecorded addictive quality, and other side effects. The side effects and a number of outside pressures encouraged me to use it again. The night I killed the Potters I was working on a fraction of a soul, completely insane, and attempting to split my soul even further. The magic backlashed but apparently a piece of my self, possibly a piece of my soul, was gifted to Potter as a forfeit for the attempt. You healed me, I no longer know what all that entails except that I dare not allow anything to happen to him if I can help it," Tom informed them, visibly uncomfortable. "The one thing I do know for certain is that as long as he lives I cannot die properly. Lose my body? Yes, most certainly. Finish dying and moving on to whatever is after death? No. I don't know if this extends to him as well or if it is limited to only me. I can only know for certain by knowing if the piece of me he holds is a part of my soul or simply a part of my magic and essence."

"If it extends to both of you then the two of you will have to decide when to end the cycle and how. Near simultaneous death should do it or killing each other if you ever find the situation to be unbearable. Equally, you could just wind up sharing a singular life span. I don't know," Kagome said, analyzing the situation out loud. "My limited experience with soul magic is usually being on the wrong end of it and trying to make sure everyone comes out of it alive as intact as possible. Sometimes I find myself fixing the damage but most people in that condition either don't want it fixed or don't know where to go for help, if they even can go for help. Most of the time we just try to deal with the yokai that's taken to harvesting and eating souls before freeing those we can save from their larder and sending on the souls that we couldn't save. Western magic might have different elements that I would need to witness or somehow study to be sure."

"Fair enough," Tom agreed. He was relieved. Here was a person who actually had experience dealing with similar situations rather than someone completely clueless handing down judgement.

"This may not be fixable until and unless you both die," Kagome warned. "You may even be tied to each other for eternity."

"Its my fault and I will deal with the consequences," Tom said firmly, meeting her gaze with confidence and determination.

A week went by as they acclimated to one another and the three business tycoons worked over both the phone and internet. No one was comfortable leaving Harry vulnerable. Kagome sheepishly explained that was partly her fault as the one to call for protectors with the left over magic. She theorized that the magic deemed the situation on going and wouldn't let them get far from each other until it was either lifted or Harry woke up and was able to defend himself. No one was happy with that but it had more to do with not being consulted and unable to leave for even short periods of time that mostly bothered them.

"Oh momma," Shippou sighed. This sort of thing was fairly normal considering his mother's largely sealed powers and the way strange things tended to happen around her or too her.

Severus just growled about damnable Potter Luck and sent off a patronus to Dumbledore informing him of his unavailability. Severus' status being largely resolved by the called in life debt had led them all to conclude that Severus should try to maintain an appearance of not knowing about the change. They didn't want Dumbledore to suspect until the last moment if at all possible that he had effectively lost both Savior and Potions Master to the control of another. It would also give them a way to monitor the old man's plotting. Severus might still be a spy but he was a much happier spy with far fewer restrictions and the knowledge that his alpha wouldn't keep him from his charge.

Harry woke up in what was obviously a hotel room only to wonder if he was dreaming. He was in almost no pain, for once, clean and in a brand new set of sleepwear. Vague memories of waking up briefly to eat and drink drifted through his mind like hazy dreams complete with a caring Snape and a young Voldemort. All in all what little he remembered between his Uncle selling his guardianship and waking up in bed made him _very_ wary.

"You're awake," Snape said from the doorway, having paused to observe his patient upon first entering the room.

"Wha..." Harry tried to speak only to wind up cough and choking on his dry mouth and throat. Severus sighed and approached only to conjure a cup and water to hand to his charge.

"You have been largely asleep for roughly a week. In that time events have moved forward. You newest legal guardians, if they can even be called that after using you in that ritual, are currently _guests_ of the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord was healed during the altercation which the ritual you underwent triggered and has declared you under the protection of the Dark Faction. His personal protection was extended later after discussing certain things with the others who were pulled into the mess by the ritual. The young woman, Miss. Kagome Higurashi, has claimed you as family and managed to magically adopt you as her new brother. The adoption is legally binding in both the magical and supernatural communities. Depending upon the reaction of her family it may be certified differently in the muggle world but it will be certified at some point. We were waiting for you to wake up properly before proceeding further on certain matters," Severus summarized calmly. He regarded his charge as green eyes processed what he had been told.

"Why?" Harry asked quietly once half the glass of water was gone.

"Why what? Be more specific Mr. Potter," Severus shot back.

"Why did you need to wait for me to wake up and why are you being nice to me?" Harry clarified. He wasn't used to people taking his wishes into consideration in barely any form outside of Hogwarts or the Burrow or Grimauld place and sometimes not even then.

"Do you not wish to have a say?" Snape asked, looking at him oddly.

"I'm rarely ever asked and even then most ignore what I say. Its always Dumbledore knows best or working until I drop because I need to be _grateful_ for the Dursleys taking me in and earning my keep. If its not done right I don't get fed either," Harry shrugged. Looking down sharply at the cup of water he scowled before glaring mutely at his potions professor.

"Yes, I put a very mild truth serum in the water. No, it was not meant for use to drag your secrets out of you or humiliate you. I will use any method or tool within my power to keep you alive and sane no matter how much it might make you hate me," Severus told him bluntly. "Now, tell me about any injuries, illnesses, health concerns, or other things you believe I should know as your protector."

Harry glared at him mutely, refusing to budge or even risk opening his mouth on the off chance he might unwillingly respond to the instruction.

"I can just as easily vanish your clothes and directly inspect you," Severus pointed out. Harry flushed in embarrassment at the thought but reluctantly opened his mouth to take another sip of the potion laced water before addressing the wizard in front of him.

"My bones ache a bit and my blood or what's around my blood feels raw and sore. My chest feels both sore and sort of empty making me feel cold. I'm hungry but I don't know how much I'll be able to eat since its been about a month since my last actual meal. I have a headache and the bones in my hands that Dudley liked breaking as often as he could feel sharp edged while aching something fierce. Nothing actually needs to be seen too and I should be ready to work after a trip to the loo," Harry reported sullenly. The Dursleys never allowed him to recover from anything before forcing him into another chore or task. As a result, with the truth serum in his system, he honestly reported that he would be able to work almost immediately.

"You won't be moving about much and you will have a hot bath or at least a hot soak later. I'll order you some food while you use the loo and get changed. Clothes are in the drawer, towel is in the bathroom," Severus instructed.

Harry nodded as he forced himself shakily out of bed. No help was offered even as onyx eyes tracked him worriedly across the room and safely into the bathroom with the clothes. Severus stepped out into the rest of the suite to the expectant gazes of the others. Obviously, Shippou had reported that Harry was awake with the yokai senses easily able to pick up on their movement in the other room much less little talk.

"So? How was he?" Tony demanded impatiently.

"He was subdued, didn't try to fight me in the least, and the truth serum I gave him was _very_ necessary to discover his actual condition. Its unnatural. The boy is defiance, fire, and brimstone not this... meek grumpy thing," Severus scowled, clearly upset. "He needs food, something light such as fruit or better yet broth and juice with a bit of toast."

"Could something have been controlling him? I mean my power flowed through and around him but didn't heal him... unless it healed _something_ but not the rest," Kagome suggested, concerned. Tony was already sending for room service on Harry's behalf with Severus' light food choices. "I didn't really have time to think about it then but my Miko power healed you and Tom for the most part but Harry, who was the closest to me, didn't get healed?"

"That... isn't good," Shippou agreed, equally concerned. "I can think of a couple of reasons why that might happen and only one or two of them are not bad."

"Honestly, as troublesome and irritating as his father was he didn't have even half as much of this strange back and forth luck. Arrogant, entitled, rich boy? Most certainly. Death defying stunts on a yearly basis? Not off the quidditch field or even when tending to his wolf every full moon and largely not even then. As much as the man tortured me on a fairly regular basis his son is completely different no matter how much I pretend otherwise," Severus complained. He decided to check for controlling potions and spells when he brought the imp his food.

The diagnostics the healer had used focused on actual health and injuries rather than any contributing spell work, although it did cover potential potions simply to avoid double dosing the patient. It could have just been habit since most Gringotts healers were not the first healer on the scene. Then again many debilitating spells and potions developed after certain points in history incorporated a component to keep them hidden from discovery. Such concealing components kept them from being easily and correctly countered more easily than causing the spell or curse to fight back. Either way Severus was determined to have a word with the healer and make him do his damn job correctly.

"How much trouble is this going to be? I know you have a... less than pleasant relationship with him," Tom inquired, eyebrow arched and clearly unimpressed by his friend's grouchiness.

"As you all know I managed to put off Dumbledore for the time being," Severus began. They all nodded, having been there for the exchange of message patroni where the two men had argued and Severus had finally been given permission to admit that he was tending to Harry. "There is an expectation that as soon as he can be moved to either take him back to his relatives, which is no longer an option, or to take him to the Burrow or Headquarters. All three places nominally leave him under Dumbledore's complete control."

"Making none of them good places for him to be," Tony tossed out the obvious. "Then there is this guardian thing and the ritual thing. We've already proven that the magic wont let us get very far from each other for long."

"Exactly," Severus agreed, trying not to wince at the chosen terminology.

"You know that soul piece behind Harry's scar seems to have been purified and it was what had twisted the general call for help into a summoning for actual guardians while Tony distracted them. Maybe I should check on it again," Kagome mused aloud. "It didn't seem harmful once I purified it but soul fragments can be strange."

" _Soul piece_?" Tom asked sharply. Things sharply clicked into place as he finally realized that he hadn't been fighting Harry and trying to kill him but that Dumbledore had been trying to force him into killing a piece of himself.

"Yes, didn't I mention it?" Kagome asked in slight confusion. "I thought from our earlier discussion a week ago that you already knew. We _were_ talking about it pretty clearly even if we didn't use those exact words."

"No momma, you didn't," Shippou answered her with a sigh. Tom grumbled a bit but conceded the point that she had made about their topic of previous discussion. Then the realization hit causing him to swear viciously.

"What?" Tony demanded.

"Now I know why Dumbledore kept trying to arrange for me to kill him while looking like he was defeating me repeatedly," Tom growled low in anger as he answered. "Using a child like that and to try to force me to destroy a piece of my own _soul!_ That bastard needs to die."

"He's not a child anymore," Severus snapped out sharply. "Physically he is 16 as of a week ago, mentally he is far older. I can't tell you his legal position if only because of the debacle the ministry and that stupid tournament made out of his status. By muggle law he is still not a full adult even though is the age of consent."

Tom breathed in, forcing himself to calm down. The murderous rage against Dumbledore wasn't exactly new but the acid edged bite to his fury and the sudden understandable _need_ to protect Harry was. It was the mixing of the two that was fraying the edges of his control.

"Momma, I think at this point Uncle Harry needs to go with you on the shard hunt," Shippou said bluntly. "He's too exposed here. In the past he has a better chance of healing and helping. If he doesn't want to go with you and InuYasha to hunt shards he can help Kaede or stay at the shrine with Uncle Souta."

"We can't decide anything until we can separate further than 100 feet without having to come back to whoever is designated as our primary," Natasha pointed out testily. She _really_ wanted to update Stark's file at SHIELD.

Clint just rolled his eyes at the way his partner was bringing them back on task. He didn't disagree with her assessment per say but he was less concerned about it than his partner was. This was largely because Natasha was an infiltration specialist and the distance limit dropped her usefulness to only a bodyguard. Something that tended to drive her slightly nuts when she wasn't given a choice in picking the assignment. _He_ , on the other hand, was an archer who was good enough to use sniping even against guns. Normally, when a situation was guns vs. bows the guns won under practically any condition. With Hawkeye it was more a matter of him being a specialized sniper with a skill set that miraculously worked on actual battle fields.

They all heard the thud of Harry falling in the shower. Severus was the first to move, unconsciously hiding his concern as he shouted at his student.

"You better not have broken anything boy!" Severus called even as he headed for the occupied bathroom.

"Sorry Uncle Vernon!" Harry's slurred voice shouted back as they all heard scrambling as the water turned off. It wasn't even a full five seconds when Harry dashed into the main room and headed for the kitchenette.

Everyone watched in astonishment as Harry began to cook, despite his obvious injuries and the swelling bump on his head that he had obviously gotten in the shower. When Tony moved to gently stop Harry both Tom and Severus stopped everyone from interfering, watching Harry closely as he worked, their eyes narrowed in increasing anger. It was clear to everyone that Harry was used to cooking while injured.

"The soul piece is helping him," Kagome said softly, watching the power flow between both soul shard and teen wizard as her new brother worked.

Right at that moment Harry was taking pieces of bread, cutting out the middle before buttering what was left and placing them in bowls. A chunk of butter went into the center of each piece of bread where the hole was before an egg was cracked over the hole as well. Each bowl was covered by a plate then placed in the kitchenette microwave for no more then 50 seconds on high before being swapped out for another bowl. The perfectly poached eggs in bread were placed on a serving plate before the bowl and plate were reused to repeat the process. An entire carton of eggs was used and only two bowls and two plates plus the serving plate and a butter knife got dirty during the whole process. The extra pieces of bread had been set aside and once the package of bacon was done frying the bread pieces were placed in the left over bacon fat to briefly cook while the bacon and eggs were placed on the table.

Everyone noticed with anger that there were only three places which Harry set on the table. It was quite obvious that Harry's rattled mind thought he wasn't going to be eating the large amount of food he was making. By the time everything was set out on the table there was enough to feed all nine of them rather than the three people who it had been made for.

Once Harry stayed away from the hot stove long enough to be gently grabbed they led him over to a couch. Severus checked him again while the others sorted out the kitchenette and everything Harry had been using, either cleaning it or putting it away. There was no discussion on if they were eating the food as more places were set, not wishing to see Harry's hard work go to waste.

"He should be fine. I suspect it was just a combination of my tone of voice and the fact he only woke up around twenty minutes ago. The head wound isn't enough to worry about, no concussion, no issue with his eyes reacting incorrectly. Just memory and not being awake yet," Severus deduced, much to everyone's relief.

The ordered room service had arrived during Harry's cooking frenzy. Once his emerald eyes finally focused on the room around him he was silently given his light meal as if nothing had happened. Until Tony opened his mouth.

"Thanks for breakfast," Tony poked mischievously as he nodded towards the set table and the food.

Harry looked at him blankly for a minute before understanding dawned and he flushed in embarrassment. His eyes dropped to his food and stayed there as Tony gently teased him, trying to get Harry to join in with the intentionally light hearted discussion as they ate.

"Let him be, Stark. He obviously doesn't want to talk about it," Clint finally snapped in aggravation. Everyone noticed Harry's flinch but no one commented on it. Tony pouted but dropped it, allowing everyone to finish their food in peace.


	6. Unexpected Background Connections

Breakfast was done and everyone gathered in what could only be termed as the living room area of their suite, keeping Harry from escaping from the coming discussion.

"Potter, before anything else happens be assured that none of us," Severus gestured at everyone present. "Will allow you to return to those beastly muggles. Equally none of us currently mean you harm regardless of past wishes and stances. Between the ritual you experienced and what occurred afterwards it was determined that not only were you not at fault but that those of us already aware of you had failed in protecting you. We were tricked into believing you were an enemy by Dumbledore rather than just being yourself. I feel that I must personally apologize for my prior actions against you. I was partly working on false information and partly threatened into mistreating you. That threat has now been lifted and I am no longer risking my life if I refuse to make you miserable. That said my normal attitude is unlikely to change. I am simply no longer obligated to insult you, your friends, your father, or demean you at the drop of a hat. I was as honest as possible with you during your previous school years."

"Then the vanishing of my potions? The detentions for breathing?" Harry asked darkly.

"Half to keep you out of trouble and to keep an eye on you with the other half being required by Dumbledore to keep your head from swelling with your fame. His words, not mine," Severus answered firmly. "I could only do so much to keep you safe and alive with you in a different house and so many things or people trying to go after you. The staff stopped any number of attempts against you without anyone the wiser. As for your potion making skills... I am going to have to go back and re-grade everything after discovering the damage to your bones. I am willing to offer you proper remedial potions as an apology."

"No insults?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"No insults that don't pertain to what you are actually attempting," Severus corrected. Harry's satisfied nod settled something that had everyone relaxing just that bit more.

"Why don't you just drop the insults entirely?" Shippou asked with a frown.

"He's a potions genius and got his mastery really young," Harry explained, surprising everyone. "I really wanted to learn the first lesson and its nice to know that he doesn't just hate me for no reason. Even with my dad bullying him when they were in school he insults everyone except maybe his high level students. He sees everything almost right away and doesn't always know why we can't see it. I do the same thing with flying and defense. The Weasley twins had to explain it to me and we got into the habit of trading what we see when we do something or learn something new on weekends. That's how I taught everyone in my defense club a spell that most people have trouble with. I can't use a happy memory for my patronus the way most people are taught so I use powerful happy thoughts."

"Like Peter Pan," Tony said, nodding his understanding.

"Who?" Harry asked, confused.

"Its a story. A boy is taken to never never land and pixie dust helps him to fly using happy thoughts," Clint summarized, already plotting to give Harry a copy of the book. What modern kid in the UK or the US didn't know about Peter Pan?! There was even a stupid _Disney_ movie about the story!

"This Sesshoumaru agrees. The Miko will take the new pack member back with her to the past," Sesshoumaru rumbled. He smirked at the instant facial tick that Kagome developed.

"I _thought_ I had finally gotten you to call me by my _name_! Ka-Go-Me! Not woman, not bitch, not wench!" Kagome instantly ranted. This was a major sore spot for her with how often she was insulted in the past. She had only done cursory research on the time period to avoid winding up dead during the shard hunt as an air head teen. As a result she honestly didn't know that some of the addresses weren't insults or how her school sailor uniform portrayed her in the past as basically a whore.

"Momma, as funny as letting you keep misunderstanding is... Alpha hasn't been given permission to use your first name because of a bunch of different reasons. 1 - you aren't technically pack or family yet in the past, 2 - you haven't actually given him permission even though you've told him to call you by your first name, 3 - he wont dishonor you or himself by addressing you as something other than your title. Alpha has been really lenient with you because you can actually control baka-Yasha and have been acting as our pack Alpha no matter what InuYasha thinks," Shippou corrected gently. "When Alpha addresses you as Miko in the past he's being respectful without being rude. When he addresses you as Miko in the present its because he's acting all official like... or doesn't want to admit that he's feeling something that our enemies can take advantage of. Yes, InuYasha as a member of your pack calling you anything but your name, Miko, woman, or alpha is an insult unless he's actually being respectful when he calls you bitch because its a canine title, _not_ the insult of the modern times. I promise that right now he knows your name and I'm pretty sure he actually knows your name in the past unless he's being an ass because he sees InuYasha as having first claim on you and the fact that you're human."

"You are _not_ continuing to wear your school uniform to the past," Sesshoumaru announced flatly, dropping the formality for bluntness.

"Why not?" Kagome asked, blinking in surprise at the abrupt shift in topic combined with all of the new, to her, information.

"Its indecent. You might as well be wearing nothing but a skimpy bikini set," Sesshoumaru said bluntly. "Pants and shirt, a Miko outfit, or a proper set of Kimono. Shorts are completely out, skirts need to be ankle length if used at all, and swim suits are only for bathing or _very_ private time. If the Demon Slayer helps you with acquiring a similar outfit to her own that is acceptable. I am not restricting you to traditional clothing because you find yourself in battle too often for it to be practical. Any public recreational swimming needs to be done with a proper shirt of the time period on over the swim suit."

Kagome stared at him for a moment in shock before she cringed, visibly connecting the dots. Her deep blush of embarrassment was of great relief to the two Yokai as the young Miko finally understood that as far as the people of the past were concerned she had been running around practically naked or in rags.

"Boots too. Sneakers work alright but sturdy steel toed boots will help you more," Shippou insisted firmly. "On the plus side we can buy you proper gear and medical stuff to help."

"She is receiving things that her pack will understand how to use without assistance but is durable and compact enough to be of use. Blankets for her companions, proper provisions, instructions for her to study so that she can properly preserve any kills InuYasha brings down for the pack, a limited number of dishes to avoid weight issues..." Sesshoumaru smirked. "InuYasha is also to study certain texts I send back with you. Some things may be left with the old Miko or at the modern Shrine for later retrieval until the packs are joined. Aid will be rendered in various forms to your family shrine now that we are no longer restricted from interacting while the shard hunt continues."

"Thank you for your aid Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome said formally, giving the Daiyoukai a deep bow in gratitude.

"Anything I can help with?" Tony snarked, his offer sincere.

"I do not trust you with my pack. Until that changes and everything else is settled or confirmed the answer is no," Sesshoumaru said bluntly, openly glaring at the billionaire playboy hero.

"So, time travel?" Harry asked Kagome inquiringly, avoiding getting caught in the bristling pissing match between businessmen.

"Magic well, a prophecy, and a duty to guard a jewel that can grant wishes but has hidden dangers. Selfish use taints the whole jewel and twists both the power and the wielder. I was a living sheath for the jewel until I got dragged 500 years in the past only for the jewel to get torn out of my side. In trying to protect it and get it back with InuYasha I accidentally broke it. Thus the shard hunt," Kagome summarized bluntly. She could fill in more detail when they were with the rest of the group back in the past.

"So what's the deal with you and this InuYasha character?" Tony asked, honestly interested and not liking some of the things he had already heard about the hanyo. He was also conveniently trying to distract said hanyo's brother out of their impromptu glaring match.

"We've come a long way from when Kaede had to put those beads on him and made him protect me while we gathered the jewel shards," Kagome sighed slightly wistfully at the memory. She had been very innocent and completely unaware of the dangers that she would face as the Shikon Miko.

"How did that happen? You never told me," Shippou asked with an interest that mirrored Sesshoumaru's own carefully hidden curiosity.

"Mistress Centipede felt the jewel close by in my time and dragged me into the well as her body reformed because of how close the jewel was. My best guess as to why it didn't happen before my 15th birthday is that I mostly avoided the well house after we moved in with grandpa at the shrine. It always felt weird and besides, who normally wants to get close to something that has a name like the Bone-Eater's Well? Its not like I knew I had Miko powers at the time. I just thought I was a regular teenager not some legendary guardian," Kagome elaborated. "I freed InuYasha from the sealing arrow Kikyo had used to pin him against the sacred tree on our shrine grounds because he was bragging about being able to kill her and complaining about being stuck. Kaede tossed an enspelled necklace over his head while he was busy trying to kill me since I wouldn't just let him have the stupid jewel. She told me to use a word to subdue him and all I could think of was the word _sit_ since he's an Inu, dog, hanyo. The situation was very strange for a normal middle school student."

"Do you make it a habit to befriend those who try to kill you during your first meeting?" Sesshoumaru asked with barely hidden exasperation.

"You don't know the half of it Alpha," Shippou grumbled, very familiar with his adoptive mother's ability to turn enemies into allies and the risks she took in the process.

"So you have a weird level of luck like mine, gotcha," Harry concluded with a sigh and a grimace of sympathy.

"On another note those idiots that started this mess? Half of them are connected with some group calling themselves Hydra. A couple of them are from the Ministry of Magic but the rest were actually trying to join my forces," Tom reported with a grimace of disgust at the idiocy. "Of the few that escaped one was Dumbledore's man and the other was an Unspeakable on detached duty with Hydra. There was also apparently a special file on Lily Potter nee Evans in the Department of Family with a reference to someone named Obadiah Stane contacting them with an infant female to be put up for adoption."

Tony went immediately bloodless as his mind raced through the possible reasons for such a file. Both Clint and Natasha exchanged worried looks not only for the file connected to Obadiah Stane but the Hydra connection which Tony knew practically nothing about beyond the use of the Tesseract. They had been so caught up in stopping Loki and the invasion that he hadn't yet followed up on the Hydra files from SHIELD.

"What is the Department of Family and why would they have a file on my mum?" Harry asked, sending the racing thoughts of Stark screeching to a crash with a blue screen of death. It took a vital few seconds for Tony's brain to reboot before it was off racing again with every other thought being _I have family_. They hadn't gotten around to the legal blood tests yet and it hadn't really sunk in that he might actually be related to the two teens even as he had laid a protective claim over the pair in any case.

"Obadiah Stane was a squib acting as a go between and representative with baby Lily's adoption. The official story was that the infant came from a wizarding family but was suspected to be a squib from an affair. The fine for the affair was paid, assurances were made about her inability to inherit, and the Department of Family helped place her with a loving muggle family," Tom explained. He watched Harry carefully, studying him as the news was delivered and digested.

"Definitely need a blood test," Tony said firmly as he attempted to regain some of his normal color.

The rest of the day was spent certifying Tony, Kagome, and Harry's blood relationship and legal status. Thank you Goblins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am debating about whether or not to cover the bank/goblins visit...
> 
> I am also highly embarrassed to have forgotten until now that I needed to list the story inspiration. If you haven't seen it go look at chapter 1 front notes. *blushes deeply in embarrassment*


	7. Goblins and Gold

Harry was vaguely impressed by the speed at which both Tony and Tom a.k.a. Voldemort got a Gringotts representative to the hotel suite the group was sharing. The fact that said goblin contingent did a double take at the sight of the group as a whole had him smirking and fighting not to laugh out right. The fact that they immediately contacted the bank and summoned extra paperwork that apparently linked to some sort of prophecy on the other hand _wasn't_ so amusing. The nine of them had just gotten done going over what was jointly known of the prophecies regarding the Shikon no Tama and Harry's situation while waiting for the goblins to arrive. To say that Harry was exceptionally wary about anything pertaining to prophecy at the moment was an understatement.

"There is a prophecy which nullifies the current one binding Mr. Potter and Mr. Riddle," Griphook explained, showing them the paperwork for both written in gobbledygook.

Harry had quietly asked the goblin during the wait why he had been manning the carts in his first year and Griphook had explained that it was his day off. Apparently, working the carts were for rest days because of the higher chance for legal combat and the fact that it was otherwise fairly restful for a goblin. Teller duty, on the other hand, combined with working the carts under supervision, and dragon duty were all forms of punishment unless the goblin especially requested or trained for that job.

"Would you mind providing a translation?" Tom requested politely.

"Roughly speaking it indicates that should the blood of Mr. Potter be used to summon his blood family and in turn their guardians. As a result the one thought to be his enemy would become his protector. It also claims that his friends bonded under the firebird would become his foes and that his guiding elder would seek his annihilation. His only safety would lie in training within the pack of the past at the side of a sister chosen, cousin born, wielder of light. Thus in seeing the darkness that threatened in the past he would see the falsehood of the Dark Lord masking himself with Light. You have never masked your personal darkness or affiliation with anything which can be termed light Mr. Riddle. As such we can only classify you as the foe turned protector and start looking for the traits of a Dark Lord among the light faction," Griphook explained. "We don't have the references to accurately interpret everything but time travel was clearly referenced. I am uncertain how it relates to the connected piece about a shrine and a magical well however."

Kagome, Shippou, and Sesshoumaru exchanged exasperated looks. It reminded the rest of the group of their discussion about Kagome's task with the jewel and how she traveled back and forth through time.

"Dumbledore," Severus growled moodily but didn't elaborate further. Instead the two yokai watched him hover at Harry's back in such a way as to indicate both possessiveness and protectiveness. Had he been a yokai they would have flatly declared him smitten with Harry.

"The prophecy is still in effect isn't it? The first one? Just that Voldemort isn't my target anymore? I bet the linked part still applies in more ways than one to both of them... The not living properly while the _Dark Lord_ I have to fight is still running around harassing me really hasn't changed," Harry pointed out. He really just wanted the damn thing _gone_ but he wasn't going to argue with a change of target.

"That was also our conclusion based on the contents of the prophecy provided by our established seers, yes," Griphook agreed cautiously. "We are having difficulty obtaining and certifying the one which was originally used to link the two of you and prompted the raid against the Potters. There have been some suspicions raised that it is in fact a fake. If it is in fact false then its existence is actually named in our prophecy in any case and the link the two of you share is confirmed but its nature is defined as different. You would not be obligated to kill one another but instead act to balance each other and aid in the protection of all born of magic."

"I like yours a lot better," Harry said finally after several moments of silence.

"We do too," Griphook agreed with a toothy smile. "We've been waiting a long time for it to be fulfilled and it has always frustrated us that the prophecy its self said we wouldn't know who was involved in its activation. Or at least we wouldn't know until they were already battle blooded, surviving without training. A warrior like that deserves to have enough training to survive anything they encounter or at least enough to kill their enemies effectively. It is common thought among the goblins that you have been served poorly as a warrior by your people. Unfortunately, we can not interfere in the business of wizards unless invited or they appear as part of one of our important prophecies."

"And if your prophecy turns out not to be related to them at all?" Shippou asked bluntly.

"Then we misread it speaking of a Lightning Strike and a Lord of Darkness being at odds referring to these two wizards. It does little harm to aid them against such thieves and traitors who break both wizard and goblin law. If nothing else we clean house a little bit and get on the good side of two of our most valued customers. If in fact they are the ones spoken of then we will be ready to train and aid them in their duties to protect all of us," Griphook answered with a shrug. "It really only matters if someone throws a hissy fit or if we need to send warriors to aid them."

Everyone understood the win-win aspect just fine after that as well as the potential resources that might be brought to bear. Conversation quickly moved on.

"We will need to make some sort of press statement," Shippou reminded everyone with a sigh of open aggravation. They had just finished covering the various account basics as well as the potential problems relating to the likely involved prophecies. Everyone needed a break or a change of pace.

"Why?" Harry asked quietly, silently cringing in memory of the mess that Rita Skeeter had created during the Tournament in his fourth year.

"Mostly to confirm that yes, we are real, no, we will not answer invasive questions. Finally, we need to confirm that we wouldn't have interrupted their peaceful self denial of reality and reminded them that we exist if it wasn't _important_. Frankly, coming to rescue you and momma broke a _lot_ of secrecy agreements," Shippou said flatly. "We will have to point out that the witch burnings and the yokai extermination hunts made it very clear that most humans just wanted us dead without bothering to learn about us first. Giving a statement about our reappearance and the fact that we are not only self governed but have existed mostly peacefully next to everyone else is going to be a must. Pointing out that we destroy with extreme prejudice any attempt to weaponize our abilities under the control of normal humans is also going to be a must. Our abilities are only used against normal humans if they put themselves under the authority of our culture and our laws... or threaten to wipe us out."

"Which includes active Mikos and people who time travel to before the cultural split," Kagome acknowledged with a sort of rueful resignation.

"Actually, you became part of our culture and society when it was discovered that the Jewel had such a strong connection with you. Any _sane_ yokai might not seek it for greater power but it is still an important artifact to both the human holy people and to the yokai. You just confirmed your status when you started building a pack with InuYasha as the first member. Adopting me made it irreversible," Shippou clarified with a shrug. "You just act as too much of a powerful pivot point to be left alone as a normal human. We kept away to avoid interfering with the Jewel Quest and because you are hard to pin down in such a big city like Tokyo. Things changed when they kidnapped you and you called for help."

Kagome muttered something frustrated about stubborn yokai, stupid jewels, and strange time travel effects under her breath that had both yokai chuckling.

"All of this," Harry waved his hand, indicating the situation as a whole. "Is going to drag my people into that isn't it? The Statute of Secrecy is going to fall."

"It was time. Technology is getting more advanced. At least this way the revelation will not start with bloodshed," Sesshoumaru corrected firmly.

"So how are we going to go about legally proving who everyone is and any blood connections? Doing it in a way that wont get thrown out of court based on the fact that you people are goblins would be nice too," Tony asked with a great deal of interest and bluntness, intent on a distraction. "I don't mind opening an account will your bank just to simplify things for Harry and Kagome since I plan to be helping them out no matter what Princess over there says. I do, however, want this little trip to be worthwhile and something I can show my idiot board of directors wasn't a kidnapping attempt to go for a _very_ hostile takeover. Which, you know, it kind of is even if their aim wasn't specifically my business and fortune but instead my unknown blood relatives."

Sesshoumaru growled low at the moniker but didn't openly object. Prince _was_ a correct title for him to some extent and they all knew by now how irreverent Tony tended to be. As a result no one was really surprised that he used the female variation in the interests of pushing buttons and being an ass. In the interests of actually getting things done the Daiyokai had chosen not to take official offense for every single little slight that the party boy billionaire sent his way.

Besides, it was very clear to him that Tony badly wanted a relationship with his youngest pack members. The man would have to realize eventually that if he wanted any part in the lives of Harry or Kagome he would need Sesshoumaru's tacit permission. No one hurt Sesshoumaru's pack. No one.

"We will provide certified tests and affidavits that will sooth any concerns. Your new status has us placing you as top priority for the time being and we will investigate any irregularities to avoid future issues," Griphook answered happily. "You have proven your own identity and caliber sufficiently that any excessively suspicious activity among your employees will be recorded and checked with you unless presenting a clear and present danger. A list will be provided to you on our criteria to avoid future confusion on what we mean by _clear and present danger_. Would you like for Gringotts to issue the press release on your behalf?"

"That would be acceptable," Sesshoumaru agreed inclining his head in a brief nod. With that decided they ended for the day, putting off anything else for another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm toying with potential pairings right now because only one of the original ones I was thinking of seems to be plausible just now....
> 
> Right now the only solid ones are Kagome/Sesshoumaru and Sango/Miroku....


	8. Assignments

"You know momma has to stay pure until Naraku is dead," Shippou reminded Sesshoumaru bluntly while the pair of yokai were outside of the hotel getting some fresh air. Everyone else was inside relaxing or eating.

"I do not believe her full power is due to being a Miko and thus a virgin but I will not press my suite until the Jewel and Naraku are dealt with. It will take that long for my younger self to stop being an idiot in any case," Sesshoumaru said equally as bluntly. "I will not risk her being killed in this hunt simply to have her in my bed beyond platonically."

"As long as you remember that," Shippou said quietly. They sat together in relative silence for another hour watching the sunset before returning to the others.

"Fury is pissed at what happened but when he checked with a magic specialist he was told to let whatever this is ride," Clint was telling Tony as the two yokai returned to the suite.

"Your entire file has to be re-worked," Natasha told the smug billionaire grumpily. It was clear to him that she was pissed her work was now in question.

"I'll make up a copy of stuff he should know about me and let him fill in the blanks later," Tony shrugged. 

As fun as hacking Shield was from time to time and as often as they sponged off of him Tony still wanted some official clearance to get on their bases occasionally. Something which meant maintaining some form of security clearance within the organization. It would also let them know that if they threatened his kids he would destroy them regardless of if the one they threatened was one of his AIs or a human or something else. Which was a good thing with a newly discovered daughter that had adopted a yokai as a son.

"I know that we haven't really discussed it but I don't know who will be able to go down the well with me or what it will do to any of the protector bonds if the people are split up," Kagome pointed out thoughtfully. "The goblin prophecy says that Harry at least can go back with me so that part of the plan should still work..."

"I still have to manage my people and deal with Dumbledore. Neither I nor Severus can simply up and disappear," Tom grimaced. "No matter how much I want to be there to protect Harry or want to send Severus off so that he isn't stuck spying any longer it isn't an option. We can send spell books with him to learn from and probably arrange for his permission to use magic openly without consequences but that's about it."

"Potions is to volatile to send him with lesson plans or allow him to practice on his own in the past," Severus added thoughtfully. "As to my own position, becoming part of the pack solved a great many problems for me but removing me as a spy still puts both sides on dangerously unstable ground."

"You will _not_ be going back," Sesshoumaru growled. "If you can not pass through the well you will reside within the modern shrine until this situation is solved, acting as another layer of defense. Both of the wizarding factions will be called to answer to the Yokai World Council and the International Confederation of Wizards. This conflict _will_ end one way or another. I do not risk my pack or its members lightly and your position will be moot very shortly in any case."

"I make regular returns to the present for supplies. Can you have healing potions waiting with the other medical stuff for our visits back?" Kagome asked with open interest, offering everyone a change of topic. No one wanted to face down an upset Diayokai.

"Certainly," Severus agreed curtly. He refused to think on the orders his Alpha had given him just yet. He wasn't used to may people caring about his well being. "As one of Mr. Potter's teachers I will grant that he has enough skill to brew most of the potions he has already been taught without supervision as long as he only attempts to brew them one at a time and is certain of what ingredients he is actually using."

"Th..thanks!" Harry stammered, stunned at the backhanded praise from his strict Professor.

"As for me it would look really strange to the world if I just up and disappeared. I think only the three of you can really go anywhere," Tony pointed out. "Now that doesn't mean you'll split without toys and supplies from me but it does tells us who can disappear on a practical basis. I got nothing on how that will be managed on a magical basis."

"I think I'll be fine since I'm just going to a younger version of my two guardians... actually we should all be fine mostly splitting up now. Since both Harry and I are a part of the same pack and thus can share protectors we should be fine... Then again I could try dispelling the ritual link?" Kagome mused thoughtfully. "No, it would work better if it just recognized the pack bond as an extra link and extended for maybe an extra 100 meters?"

"You do realize that both you and your brother got adopted by me and the Avengers when this who thing started, right?" Tony snarked. He was pouting a bit at not being included in being counted as safe.

Kagome ignored him as she brought her power to the fore, shining brightly as she brought the protective magics into a sort of editing state. She knew that she was going to pay for trying this but the idea she had needed to be tried quickly before the magic settled in any further. Her eyes flared bright with pink power as she instinctively examined the magics that she had hijacked from the summoning ritual. Kagome frowned as she found several very nasty things that must have come from the original ritual lying dormant in the blood of Harry, Tony, and herself.

"Joka Suru Hakari! (Purifying Light!)" Kagome commanded in Japanese. The sudden spike in power that came with the command had both Yokai hastily jumping backwards as the three blood relations were engulfed in pink light. When it faded they could all tell that the binding was gone but everyone was more concerned about the three formerly protected people out cold on the floor.

"Momma must have found something bad in the magic. She doesn't usually go overboard like that unless whatever it is happens to be _nasty_ ," Shippou commented judiciously. "What do you think Alpha? Three hours?"

"Closer to three days," Sesshoumaru corrected grumpily. He eyed the unconscious people carefully as he visually checked the three for injury. "We will spend the time moving our pack to the shrine."

"Then I entrust both Harry and Severus into your care as Alpha of their pack. Once you are settled please contact me so that we may further discuss our strategy to keep them safe," Tom said cordially.

"I'll call for pick-up. Tony can sleep it off at Avengers Tower," Clint put in with an annoyed eye-roll. There was a great deal of smirking at the thought of Tony getting lugged around like a sack of flour but no one objected.

The next time Harry and Kagome woke up they were in Japan at the Higurashi shrine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got them back to Japan!


End file.
